11th International Planetary Probe Workshop (2014)

8113.pdf

Terrestrial HIAD Orbital Reentry (THOR) Flight Test Opportunity. S. J. Hughes1, F. M. Cheatwood1, R. A.
Dillman1, J. M. DiNonno1, R. J. Bodkin1, J. P. White1, J. A. Del Corso1, and; 1MS 432, NASA Langley Research
Center, Hampton VA 23681, stephen.j.hughes@nasa.gov

Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator

(HIAD) technology has been matured by NASAs
Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Game
Changing Development Program (GCDP) HIAD project. The Terrestrial HIAD Orbital Reentry (THOR) is
a new flight test is being pursued to demonstrate the
improvements in the Inflatable Structure (IS) and Flexible Thermal Protection (FTPS) developed over the 3
year HIAD project. This test will be an orbital velocity
atmospheric entry at Earth subjecting a HIAD to peak
heating rates, total heat load and structural loading in
kind or in excess of environments that would be experienced on a future Mars direct entry opportunity. The
experiment leverages previous STMD/GCD investment
in hardware built as a flight spare for the IRVE-3 flight
opportunity. The flight experiment also leverages
NASAs investment in the commercial Cargo Resupply
System and takes advantage of a newly available secondary payload capability on the ANTARES launch
vehicle to deliver the flight experiment to orbit.
This paper will discuss how the environments
achievable with the THOR opportunity are relevant to
future missions that can benefit from the use of a HIAD
for atmospheric entry. It will also touch on recent
technical developments in the HIAD project that make
the THOR mission feasible.
.